2013 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Roundup: March 9-10, 2013

The TNT
Tropang Texters, Bgy. Ginebra Gin Kings, and Air21 Express all gained some
ground in the race for the 2013 PBA Commish Cup Playoff berths by winning in
contrasting styles this past weekend.

In Legazpi
City, Albay, Talk N Text handed Barako Bull its fourth defeat, 101-98. Both
Larry Fonacier and Rabeh Al-Hussaini of TNT have been having a bad Commish Cup
of late, but they stepped up here. Prior to this game, both guys were averaging
a combined 11.6ppg only, but they broke out against the Energy Cola. Rabeh made
his first 9 shots en route to a game-high 19 points, while Fonacier backstopped
him with 18 markers. TNT’s 2012 Commish Cup import, Donnel Harvey, returned to
action here, but he was huffing and puffing all the way. Harvey hardly looked
like TNT's savior last night, but we have to consider the fact he went straight
to Legazpi City after arriving in Manila. He scored just 8 points and was
battling cramps late in the game.

In Sunday’s
first game at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, Air21 Express nailed only its second
win in the conference by upending the reeling GlobalPort Batang Pier, 106-94.

Hey Denzel
Bowles, you're not the only beastly guy in town! Air21’s Mike Dunigan dropped
35 and 20 -- THIRTY-FIVE POINTS and TWENTY REBOUNDS I tell you! If Dunigan can
continue to put up these numbers, then the Ws might just continue to trickle in
for the embattled coach Franz Pumaren. Despite the Express’s win, though,
they’re still waiting for the real Niño Cañaleta to show up. The current
Cañaleta is not the man who shot the lights out for Gilas Pilipinas earlier
this year. In this game, he made just 1-of-6 from the floor.

Mike Dunigan rocks the rim as the Express add to
the woes of the Batang Pier.

Things
turned from bad to worse for the Batang Pier with new acquisitions Sol Mercado
and Japeth Aguilar compiling a paltry 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 turnovers, and 6
fouls. They shot 5-of-21 from the floor, too. Will this kind of performance be
more the norm rather than the exception?

In the
Manila Classico main game, the Bgy. Ginebra Gin Kings also notched just their
second triumph by beating the San Mig Coffee Mixers, 96-88, mainly because Mark
"The Spark" Caguioa showed up to play in this one. The reigning PBA
MVP unloaded 25 big ones to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists in maybe his
best all-around game of the conference. Oh, and let's not forget his FIVE
threes!!! #countonCaguioa

Ginebra
didn't disappoint its fans as the Kings lit up the scoreboard. Coach Alfrancis
Chua's boys shot better than 54% from the field while also handing out 27
assists. Aside from Caguioa, four other Kings scored 11 or more points --
Vernon Macklin with 20, Billy Mamaril surprising everyone with 13, LA Tenorio
with 12, and "Air Force" Ellis with 11.

Why did the
Mixers lose? They were just outgunned from the get-go. James Yap did hit four
triples, but he missed seven other rainbow shots. Overall, he shot just 8-of-22
from the floor. Coach Olsen, I'm still a believer in taking some shots away
from Yap and giving them to PJ Simon. #yapistryingtoohardsogetsimonhisshots

Game Recaps:

TALK N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS over
BARAKO BULL ENERGY COLA, 101-98

Rabeh
Al-Hussaini played his best game as a member of Talk ‘N Text with 19 points,
but it was Jayson Castro who got the job done in the end, scoring the team’s
last seven points as Tropang Texters outlasted the Barako Bull Energy Colas,
101-98 in Legazpi City, Albay.

Coming off
back-to-back losses, the Tropang Texters found renewed aggression behind
Castro, who had two tough penetration baskets to sandwich a dagger
three-pointer to give Talk ‘N Text a late 101-96 lead.

Barako Bull
fought back, with Danny Seigle scoring inside on a putback to cut the Talk ‘N
Text lead to just three points. The Energy Colas then forced a 24-second
violation on the Tropang Texters, leaving Barako Bull with six seconds to map
out a final play.

But off a
timeout, Barako Bull couldn’t set up its shooters for an open look, and Talk ‘N
Text tapped the ball out with just a second remaining.

Barako Bull
drew up a play for Mark Macapagal, who faked off his defender before making a
three-pointer from right corner. The shot went in, but reviews showed he failed
to release the ball before the buzzer, allowing the Tropang Texters to escape
with the win.

Returning
import Donnell Harvey, playing his first game after replacing Keith Benson,
scored eight points for Talk ‘N Text.

The Tropang
Texters’ win-loss record improved to an even 3-3. Barako Bull suffered its
third straight defeat for a 3-4 mark.

Michael
Dunigan has been putting up monster numbers for Air 21 in the Commissioner’s
Cup.

On Sunday,
those stats finally translated into a victory, as Dunigan led the Express to a
106-94 victory over the GlobalPort Batang Pier at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Dunigan
posted 35 points and 20 rebounds for Air 21, which snapped a five-game losing
streak.

After the
game, Express coach Franz revealed where his reinforcement has been drawing
motivation for his inspired play.

“His
personal trainer is here — his mom,” said Pumaren, who called Dunigan “one of
the best imports here.”

Dunigan’s
performance atoned for his play in the Express’ last loss to Meralco. In that
game, the import scored 40 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, but committed a
crucial error to allow the Bolts to escape with the victory.

It was Air 21′s
second victory after an opening victory against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
Most of the Express’ defeats came in close matches that saw the young team
faltering in the fourth quarter.

“It eases
the pain a little from our previous games,” said Pumaren. “At least this time
around, we finished strong.

“We’re back
in the hunt. Hopefully we can sustain this.”

Debuting
import Walter Sharpe acquianted himself well for GlobalPort, scoring 24 points
and grabbing nine rebounds despite suffering an injury that caused him to miss
chunks of the fourth quarter. Gary David added 20 points for the Batang Pier,
which suffered its fifth straight defeat.

Coach Junel Baculi can only scratch his head after
the Batang Pier lose again.

New import Walter Sharpe tumbles against the
inspired play of Mike Dunigan.

BGY. GINEBRA GIN KINGS over SAN
MIG COFFEE MIXERS, 96-88

In front of
the biggest crowd of the tournament, Mark “The Spark” Caguioa shone brightest.

The Barangay
Ginebra San Miguel superstar scored 25 points, including two huge
three-pointers in the last two minutes, to lead the Gin Kings to a 96-88
victory over the San Mig Coffee Mixers in their Manila Clasico showdown Sunday
at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

The win gave
the Gin Kings its second win in seven games, coming against their traditional
rivals in front of a wild crowd of 16,617.